Clutch plate



July 16, 1935. 1 BLAcKMoRE ET AL 2,008,169

l CLUTCH PLATE Fild March 25, 1932 Patented Y July 16, 1935 CLUTCH PLATELloyd Blackmore, Detroit, and Robert R. Hutchiassignors. to GeneralMotors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporason, Pontiac, Mich.,

tion of Delaware Application March 23, 1932, Serial No. 600,664

2 Claims.

This invention relates to clutches and has been designed moreparticularly as an improved clutch for motor vehicles.

An object of the invention is to provide a construction which willimprove the action of the of the driven plate 2 I.

clutch, which will insure gradual engagement and which will preventgrabbing.

Other objects suchlas simplicity and economy are attained by the novelstructure.

Still other advantages will be understood fro the following description.

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 shows in elevation a clutch housing,the housing being broken away and the clutch elements being shown insection.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the driven plate, partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a section through the hub and driven plate.

Fig. 4 is a perspective of a part of one of th driven plate elements. v

Referring by reference characters to the drawing, numeral 1 designatesan engine of the motor vehicle and 9 is the clutch housing. The end ofrthe e-ngine crankshaft is shown at II and numeral I3 represents theflywheel secured to the crankshaft by fastening means I5. The drivenshaft is represented by numeral I1. At its end adjacent the flywheel itis splined to receive a hub I9. Numeral 2| represents theY driven plateas a whole. The hub is non-rotatably mounted on the splined end of thedriven shaft I1 and is. secured to the driven plate 2| by fasteningmeans 22. 23 represents a substantially conventional pressure plate. 25is an abutment carried by pressure plate 23 and engaged by the end of afinger 2l which is pivoted at 29 to a cover plate 3|, the latter beingfastened to the yflywheel I3 as at 33. The finger 21 is reciprocated bya sleeve 35 slidable axially of the driven shaft and, in the embodimentillustrated, guided by an opening 31 in the cover plate 3I.

The conventional lever for reciprocating the collar 35 is notillustrated nor is the spring means for normally forcing the pressureplate toward the flywheel face. j

The invention is concerned with the structure This plate isformed fromtwo discs 39 and 4I. The metal of the discs may be reduced by cuttingholes, some of which are designated by numeral 45, to reduce the weightof the discs and increase their resiliency.` Each disc is cut alongU-shaped lines as at 41 and 49,

. and tongues 5I and 53 are bent up from the (Cl. 19E- 107) plane of thedisc elements secured as shown in Fig. 4. it w11; be Y obvious that ifpreferred openings may be cut from the disc and the tongues may beseparate to thediscs and extending from the planes of the disc anddesigned to be fiattened into the openings of the disc.

it is believed to However, be preferable to construct the tongues bybending them from the plane as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be seen that there are a series of tongues 5I and a secondseries 53. The tongues of each series are spaced apart as shown in Fig.2and Fig. 4. The tongues of each disc are deflected radially, thetongues of the outer series being extended radially outward and thetongues of the i nner series extending radially disc extend between thetongues of the other.

This is perhaps best shown by the full and dotted lines of Fig. 2.

Upon the remote faces of thetwo discs are employed linings 55 secured byfastening means 51.

By this construction it willbe seen that the discs constituting theclutch plate afford fiat faces for the support of the linings.

The provision of these tongues causes the driven plate to assume theposition shown by Fig.

3 when not under pressure.

tongues are depressed into the planes of their respective discs bypressure from the flatsurfaces of the opposing discs.

A smooth gradual engagement of the clutch is thus insured. One importantadvantage of this invention is that itI affords a flat surface for thesupport of both the friction linings, while at the same-time providingfor the yielding ments.

We claim:

l. In a clutch, prising a pair of engagement of the clutch'elea drivenplate, said plate comdiscs, tongues extending from said base line.

2. The

other disc betwee invention defined by claim l, the ytongues of eachdisc engaging the flat face of the n the tongues thereof.

LLOYD BLACKMORE.

ROBERT R. HUTCHISON.

When in action the

